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Published: September 12th 2013
This post covers our travel from Kuala Lumpur down to Singapore. It was really cool to spend some time back in large cities again, with a rest in Melaka on the way. We found a noticeable change in the friendliness of the locals in KL and Singapore with more people stopping to ask us whether we needed help with directions. Not that we often looked lost or anything, I hasten to add...
We landed in KL airport and took the skybus into KL Sentral. We then took the monorail to our hotel which was next to chinatown, so well located for cheap eats (and Petaling Street Market if one was interested in purchasing fake designer watches or pants)!
As the evening set in we rode over to the Bukit Bintang area to check out the main streets, which are known for some reason as the golden triangle. In essence Jalan Bukit Bintang was "massage street", Jalan Alor was "Chinese food stall street" and Congkat Bukit Bintang was "expat restaurant street". There was a lot of action going on and we eventually dived into an Indian restaurant for a delicious murtabak and nasi lemak (coconut rice, spicy sambal, a chicken
leg and a garnish of anchovies and peanuts - sorry, this is another food-y blog again!). It wasn't far from this area over to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and Malaysia's famous Petronas Twin Towers. Most of our walk was in air-conditioned walkways over the roads and underground. When we finally emerged we were at ground level, by the shopping mall at the base of the towers. We took a few photos, as the view was fantastic with the towers all lit up, and sat for a while taking in the buzz of people rushing around. Hazel soon noticed the 'Marks & Spencer' sign on the side of the mall, so we rushed inside to stock up on packets of 'Percy Pigs & Friends'...yum!
Our first day in KL did not get off to the best start as we left our hotel and walked for about half an hour in the wrong direction. It was then that Mark was forced to give up the map and navigating duties for the rest of the day! We resorted to using the monorail to take us over to the Masjid Jamek Mosque, which should have been a short walk from our
hotel. It was an attractive looking mosque, but surrounded by a dirty river and grey buildings, so we struggled to take a decent photo and it was closed to tourists because it was being renovated, so we didn't spend long. Just round the corner was Merdeka (or Independence) Square, which was preparing for Malaysian Independence Day celebrations a couple of days later. The surrounding buildings were plastered with huge Malaysian flags and hundreds of children were practising cheer-leading routines on the grass. The sun was shining (through the smog) so we sat out for a while watching it all and enjoying the festive atmosphere.
For lunch, we detoured to the recommended Yut Kee Cafe where we had Char Siew (crispy, caramelised pork with crackling) and a spicy Beef Rendang. The place was super busy, as it was located opposite a large office block full of hungry workers, but we were promptly sat down, menus were quickly dispatched, ordering done and then serving took no time at all. This was certainly a fuel stop more than it was a relaxing lunchtime meal but it was really tasty, so we can see why it's so popular. It was interesting to hear
the cafe owner upselling Worcester Sauce to one of his asian customers as the perfect accompaniment to his roti babi. The man then covered (and I mean totally drenched) his meal in it and then gave the owner the thumbs up. (A useful tip to remember, that if MSG is not cutting it for you then reach for the Lea & Perrins!)
The following day it was time for an early wake up, as we made our way across the city to the Petronas Twin Towers to queue for tickets. We queued from 6:30am to 8:30am, in some insanely cold air conditioning, with a Starbucks to see us through. Despite the bad feeling online about the extortionate (?!) price of £16 to go up the towers, we felt it was a worthwhile experience. We managed to get tickets for the first tour up, so when we reached the sky bridge, we were the first people of the day to walk along it, which was great. There was a haze across the city, which hadn't yet burnt off, so we couldn't see out too far but seeing a city from high up is always good fun! The second stop on
the tour is up to the top of tower 2, where we looked across at Tower 1 and down at the smaller skyscrapers. In the observation deck there is a model and the usual interesting facts about how, for a time, it was the world's tallest tower at 452m. There was also a cool hologram-like model of the towers, which appeared in your hand on the TV screen, so we played around with that for a while 😊
Back on solid ground, at the base of the towers, we walked around the KLCC gardens. As we walked around the lake Hazel was whistled at by a policeman for not removing her shoes first which we felt was a strange use of law enforcement persons given the number of mopeds we kept seeing in 'No Bike Parking Zones' around the city! Anyway, we are discovering that the great thing about Asian cities is that you barely have to venture outside to move between malls, so we crossed to another shopping centre without even having to step outside. Given the amount of traffic, heat and humidity this was quite a relief. It didn't take us long to home in on an
underground food court where Hazel bought a "raddish" dish (which tasted like rubbery potato to me) and Mark had Chinese belly pork and rice, followed by a pineapple tart 😊
We wandered back along the busy roads to our hotel to cool off and for an afternoon shower before it was time to head out for dinner. We walked over to the markets of Chinatown and were hassled every step of the way down the main street to buy watches, sunglasses and pants! We ducked out onto a side street though and found a great selection of food stalls... We had a starter of a pork floss bun and then sauntered on to another stall where we ate char siew and wonton noodles. Now feeling pretty stuffed we headed over to Central Market for coffee (Kopi-O) and a fruit shake. The central market became our favourite eating spot during our time in KL. The craft market downstairs is less tacky than that in Chinatown, so we stocked up on postcards and souvenirs, and the food court upstairs fulfilled our needs, as Chicken Rice was next on the list to try. (Chicken Rice is exactly what it sounds like it
is, and is surprisingly tasty. As is the Nyonya version we discovered in Melaka - this one is called 'Chicken Rice Balls', where steamed chicken is served with fragrant balls of rice and a chilly-vinegar dip. It was so tasty that we went back a second time to try the BBQ Pork and rice balls option)!
The final area of KL we hadn't explored was over by the National Mosque and Islamic Arts Museum. It was a bit of a mission getting across there, as the roads were busy and there were no pavements. We were disappointed to find the Mosque was not open to non-muslim tourists, as we'd forgotten it was Friday (doh!), and so we couldn't really get a decent view of the dome either. The Islamic Arts Museum was much more worthwhile, as there was an exhibition on about the Hajj. It was very informative and actually very interesting. Randomly, our highlight was a huge rug showing Pilgrims at the Masjid al-Haram which was so detailed it looked like a photo. As we were navigating our way back into the main city, dodging cars was made worse because prayer was being called and this resulted in
many cars pulling over by the side of the busy carriageway and mounting the kerb to park in a rush!!
On leaving KL we had booked a coach south from one of the nicest bus stations we have ever seen - it was brand new and looked more like an international airport! It only took a couple of hours to get to Melaka and we stayed there for 5 days. We had planned to travel to Pulau Tioman to visit some more beaches but unfortunately the ferry times didn't fit with our Singapore dates, so we opted to stay in Melaka for a few more days than we originally intended.
We were concerned that we might find Melaka as boring as Kota Bharu and we were delighted, on arrival, to find it had a small town feel and quaint riverside cafes. The river was a little murky, but we saw a couple of guys in a boat cleaning up any rubbish. There were even a couple of massive Monitor Lizards which live in the river, that a local guy pointed out to us one evening. Apparently they regularly climb out onto the bank to sunbathe but, although they
looked pretty sleepy when we saw them, they weren't something you'd want to come across by surprise late at night!
Melaka's main street (Jonker Street) is most popular with tourists, as it has colonial buildings, souvenir shops, bakeries and restaurants. Due to our extended stay here, we were able to visit the awesome weekend night market twice. It was crowded with tourists and locals, and the stalls lined the streets selling everything from 'Despicable Me' cuddly toys to Taiwan Burgers. (We only mention the Taiwan Burgers because Mark had to have one to keep him going in-between his Kampung fried rice and pineapple tart - they consist of 'Taiwan Sausage' squashed between a fried egg and a dollop of pancake batter!).
Melaka is well known for its food, so we spent our days drinking coffees, lunching in riverside cafes and sampling the foods for dinner. As well as the rice balls, which we mentioned earlier, Hazel tried having yam-balls instead one evening. The theory seemed fine, but for some unknown reason they had been liberally seasoned with fish sauce, and so tasted decidedly dubious! Luckily, we had a whole plate of cameralised pork as well, so we left
the balls to one side.
Another 'must-try' in Melaka is the Capitol Satay Restaurant where we chose sticks of meat, tofu and veg to boil in a bubbling pot of satay sauce. There was a long fridge full of dipping food on sticks, so we took a tray-full back to our table to begin the cooking. The waitress then placed a metal collar on our satay pot and told us we could start...We were initially grateful to a friendly customer who showed us the ropes and how long everything took to cook. However, he then proceeded to hover around us for a further 10 minutes to watch us while we ate, so we just kept smiling and nodding at him until he left! The satay was delicious though, and the staff were experts at circling around the restaurant topping up the pots with more sauce, and ensuring that it wasn't getting stuck to the bottom.
Our other favourite Melaka restaurant was a southern Indian canteen. Initially we felt a bit unsure as we walked in, being the only non-Indians in a restaurant with no menus, but once the waiter came over and started explaining our choices we felt
much more at ease. First a banana leaf was slapped down in front of us, then three vegetable side curries were plopped down beside a huge mountain of rice. Our main meals were both chicken, which came in a separate bowl, but we were also presented with curry ladled over the rice, a cup of soup and a few poppadums...not ideal for poor Hazel, who was suffering after eating that weird raddish dish in KL and was hoping to eat plain rice and naan bread, but great food and for only RM10 (£2)!
After our R&R in Melaka it was time to coach onwards to Singapore. We taxied to Melaka Sentral Bus Station and waited for our Delima coach to arrive. The journey only took 4 hours and passport control was quick, so soon we were dropped off somewhere in the outskirts of Singapore. (Even now, we have no idea where!) We just walked until we found a shopping mall and then found the nearest MRT (the local version of the tube) to put us back on track. Having successfully made it to Singapore, we celebrated in an Orchard Road shopping mall with Kaya toast (toast with coconut jam
and huge sticks of butter). It was sooo good! We can't pretend this was only time we had this toast in Singapore...
We struggled to fit everything into our four days in Singapore, so we planned some early starts and long days. The next morning we set an alarm for the first time in a week (it's a tough life!!) and went straight to the Singapore Flyer. We generally had rainy weather during our stay, but each afternoon it would brighten up a little, so we could enjoy some time outside. There were not many people over by the Flyer first thing, so we hardly queued and only shared our pod with 3 other people. Unfortunately the rain meant that we could only just see across to the city, but we could see the Silver Supertrees in the gardens by the bay. There was also preparation for the Singapore Grand Prix taking place right below the wheel, so we had good views of the track when we looked down. The Grand Prix setup meant that much of the colonial area was covered with metal fences and concrete barriers which made the buildings difficult to see from the street. We
think we might visit the cricket pitch and surrounding area again when we come back through Singapore in November, and are hoping it will be a bit more picturesque.
After our spin on the wheel, we walked along to Boat Quay to see the Merlion (Singapore's mascot, and a cross between a mermaid and a lion) spurting water from it's mouth. It was very touristy, so we quickly took a couple of photos before going in search of food. We discovered that Lau Pa Sat (one of the oldest and most famous hawker centres) was closed for renovations, so we continued into China Town and ate in Maxwell's Hawker Centre. We found the hawker centres and food courts great fun while in Singapore and usually picked meals from different stalls so we could try as many as possible.
That evening we hopped over to the Marina Bay Gardens to see the Supertrees which provide a great ambience to complement the nightly buzz. We had actually been aiming to see the Marina Bay Sands Light and Water Show, but stumbled across the Supertrees changing colours to music by accident. There were many people walking around the gardens and there
was a raised walkway between a few of the Supertrees, which we were hoping to go up. As it was approaching 9:30pm and there was a bit of a queue, we opted instead to make our way back to the waterfront for the original light show. For free entertainment it was great! Music played as images were projected on fountains in the bay, flames occasionally rose from the water and bubbles were released into the air!
We spent the next morning at the National Museum of Singapore and arrived just in time for a guided tour. We were the only people, so had the guide all to ourselves and she gave us a whistle-stop chronological history of Singapore which was exactly what we were looking for.
Next it was on to Orchard Road for some lunch and then to the Long Bar in Raffles for the mandatory tourist Singapore Sling. We tried a couple of variations on the cocktail - Mark had a Spring and Hazel had a Courtyard Sling which we drank while eating our way through the monkey nuts. A couple sat next to us asked for a plate for their peanut shells to which the
barman replied "just throw them on the floor!" Looking at the floor we could see the shells everywhere and it looked like the Singaporeans’ enjoyed making a mess as an escape from the strict rules imposed in the rest of the city.
A little shopping and food followed before we took a train and a bus out to the Night Safari. This was probably Mark's favourite part of Singapore! The Night Safari opened at 7:30pm and being used to daytime attractions gave us the feeling that it was soon closing time despite the place having just opened. We started with the 'Creatures of the Night Show where otters picked up rubbish, binturongs hung from ropes and civets ran across the stage. This was fun to see, but rather gimmicky as the stars of the show were obviously well trained.
We ventured down the Fishing Cat Trail in almost complete darkness, so we had to dodge the occasional bat zooming towards our heads. Among the barking deer, indian gharials and pangolins (which I don't think are related too closely to cats?!) we saw a fishing cat waist deep in a shallow lake stalking fish as they swam by. The
cat looked like a smaller, furrier version of a leopard and it was amazing to be so close to him. Our other highlights on this trail were the slow lorises hanging from a tree feeding on a durian in slow motion and a couple of squeaking otters who were swimming up and down a small stream. (We have never seen otters so close and so vocal!)
Another trail we ventured down was the Leopard Trail. As you can probably guess, there were a couple of types of leopards, but also a couple of lion prides. There was an asian lion and african lion, in completely separate enclosures, but we could hear their roaring throughout the zoo. (We liked to think they were arguing about their location in lion-speak!) At the end of this trail we found a scenic reservoir lit up by the red night sky with a view of giraffes, zebras and oryxes.
The centre-piece of the Night Safari was the tour around the zoo in a tram where we passed everything from a bathing hippo to grunting porcupines and finished with a pacing tiger who was eyeing us up. The discreet fences between us and the
animals (apart from the tiger who had a few inches of glass on his enclosure) meant it felt like it could really be in the wild, but we found the best thing was seeing active nocturnal animals which are normally sleeping when you visit the zoo. Mark took many photos, but pretty much all of them came out black, so we will post one and make up a caption as to what is there!
As we were in Singapore, Hazel had been looking forward to a shopping day, and with the weather being rainy it was best to stay in the shopping malls anyhow. After a few hours and a few coffees Hazel had exhausted the shops, the credit card and Mark, so it was time for a beer over in Little India.
Little India was just down the road from our guesthouse, so we walked there past shops selling everything from cheap sunglasses to gold jewellery. We searched for Bismillah Biryani (as recommended by the Lonely Planet and Jo & Rob) and ordered one vegetable and one chicken. We wanted to try mutton, but the only other option on a Monday was goat, which neither of us
was game for (slightly more disappointing than the 'free bacon Mondays' at the burger joint where we had lunch!). After eating our way through the huge piles of rice we crossed over to Kerbau Road and found the local Beer Garden. This was an outside area of plastic chairs and tables next to a few food stalls. Beers were available from a lady guarding a couple of fridges, so we grabbed a drink and squeezed onto a free table to enjoy the atmosphere. It was absolutely buzzing, and everyone was very friendly and helpful, pointing out the food options and explaining how things worked.
Our final day in Singapore was going to be our Botanic Gardens day, but when we looked out of our window in the morning, we were greeted with dark sky and torrential rain. We decided that a suitable backup plan was to head over to Raffles Place and search out a Chilli Crab for lunch. After darting between buildings and covered sidewalks to escape the rain, we were ready for our introduction to the Singaporean speciality. We soon found the 'No Signboard' restaurant and grabbed a table overlooking Marina Bay through the mist. We quickly
ordered - 1kg crab coming up! The crab arrived dressed in a bowl of chilli sauce and with a few mantou on the side (fried steamed buns, which Mark reckons tasted like Krispy Kreme donuts?!) We were surprised not to be given proper serviettes and only a nut cracker and chopsticks to tackle the beast but, after requesting long forks, we were good to go. The crab and the sauce were delicious and we actually struggled to finish it all!
As luck would have it, the weather had cleared, so we took the MRT over to the Botanic Gardens. We decided to look around the Orchid Garden which was a 30 minute walk from the station, via the Ginger Garden. It was a shame that many of the ginger plants were not in flower, but we had more success in the Orchid Garden where Hazel took about 50 photos of the different flowers. (Hazel plans to make an Orchid photo montage, but we'll see how that goes!) The hybrid orchids grown and named after famous people were lovely to see and the mist-room and cool-house added a nice difference to just looking around regular gardens. We thought it was
surprising for a garden to be so high up on TripAdvisor, but after visiting we would certainly recommend it (maybe this is a sign that we are getting old?)!
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Shelly
non-member comment
Who bought the "fake" pants then?
Love the bling of the twin towers! Also the orchid garden must be amazing, shame the hedechiums were not in flower too.